How much do cruise staff make?

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Originally posted by Carolinamamasita
hey !!
Now thats what I call a great idea!!
Ive got 2 kids ... LOL

Anyone know what exactly those perks would be ?
Age limits?
etc....
details....details ...por favor

I think there is something with being able to stay with them in their cabin or severely reduced rates something like that. I'd really have to read it again. I was about 6 months ago when I was looking at it. There was a limit as to how much you could use the perk in one year but I know the perk was there somewhere.

...and the employee must be on contract for at least 6 months to get any of those benefits... we are waiting for our son to decide whether he's going to sign up for another 6 month contract to see if we are going to be able to take advantage of that benefit...

the free cruise sounds great, but you have to remember that most employees are sharing a cabin with at least one other employee, so staying in the room with them would be a little uncomfortable unless both roommates wanted to let you have a rollaway... my son's cabin is upper/lower, so can't imagine how there would be space...

and yes, it is seniority based, and since many of the techs change ships every 6 months, you can't plan too far ahead...

sounded wonderful to us until we looked at the logistics of it all... if we were retired, it would be easier!

Originally posted by cheryltwin
...and the employee must be on contract for at least 6 months to get any of those benefits... we are waiting for our son to decide whether he's going to sign up for another 6 month contract to see if we are going to be able to take advantage of that benefit...

the free cruise sounds great, but you have to remember that most employees are sharing a cabin with at least one other employee, so staying in the room with them would be a little uncomfortable unless both roommates wanted to let you have a rollaway... my son's cabin is upper/lower, so can't imagine how there would be space...

and yes, it is seniority based, and since many of the techs change ships every 6 months, you can't plan too far ahead...

sounded wonderful to us until we looked at the logistics of it all... if we were retired, it would be easier!

Thanks for the clarification Cheryl. I knew there was probably more to it then it showed. It's nice that you had the inside scoop to take some of the icing off the cake.

I never gave thought to their contracts only being for 6 or 8 months and that you couldn't book too far in advance or even them sharing a cabin.

See. it's good to have some inside info. Thanks for the reply to clarify.

Originally posted by Jackrjc
Interesting info on those sites. The wages are quite a bit higher than I thought, especially when you consider they have no cost for their room and board while on the ship. Some threads I have read, gave me the impression they were paid much less. Good for them and I will still tip extra for exceptional service. Note: I spoke to quite a few crew members on our cruise in Feb. The wages shown on the web sites above are quite a bit higher than the average wage in their home countries, in some cases 4 times or more higher. What's better making $1500/month when your living expenses are $200.00 or making $8000/month when your lving expenses are $7500/month.

Tips should be in accordance with the service you receive. Their home, their color, their income, their family, everything personal about them are not factors. Only the service. Their income is no more our business than our income is their business.

Originally posted by dan40
Tips should be in accordance with the service you receive. Their home, their color, their income, their family, everything personal about them are not factors. Only the service. Their income is no more our business than our income is their business.

Dan

Totally agree!!

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If life is a waste of time, and time is a waste of life, then lets get wasted together and have the time of our lives

The jobs to have on cruise ships are not the ones we see being preformed. Those are all HOTEL jobs. The good jobs are the operational jobs. Bridge Officer, Deck Officer, Maintenance Officer, Engineering Officer. They are allowed to mingle with the pax, BUT they don't have to, and they make normal Maritime wage scales. Tips mean nothing to them.

Originally posted by AandBmom
I've heard various numbers about how much cruise staff make from $50/month to much higher. Does anyone know how much different staff make on average? Does it vary much between companies? I'm interested in base salary without tips, then an average amount of tips.

Not sure what the salary is, but when tips are factored in there is a base that they reach each week, or hour or month.

In addition when you factor in food, lodging, clothing, etc. it is much more than you imagine. (Before anyone says they are packed in rooms, etc. they are still getting room and board, that they would have to pay for on shore.) In addition there are usually crew rooms with cheap alcohol, and a store to buy a lot of their personal items at really cheap prices.

Originally posted by dan40
Tips should be in accordance with the service you receive. Their home, their color, their income, their family, everything personal about them are not factors. Only the service. Their income is no more our business than our income is their business.

Dan

I find it funny how hard this is for Folks to understand...

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A bad day on a cruise is always better than a good day at work...Days `til our Mexican Riviera Cruise...Pride..... May 2007Victory... May 2006Pride..... Sept 2004Jubilee... Sept 1987

We went on a cruise with another couple to the Mexico Rivera. The cruise was fun however we went to a port shopping talk on the ship. We were told that we could shop with confidence at certain shops and guaranteed to get good quality products with a 30 day guarantee. We went to a recommended jewelry store. While just window shopping, we asked to look at a certain ring with no intention of purchasing. Well as it turned out the port shopper was in the store at the time. He came over to my husband and was telling what a wonderful deal we were being offered. The salesman told us that the ring was valued at $4,000. He bargained with my husband and came down to a price of $2,500 and the port shopping fellow was standing there and told my husband that he (the jeweler) was having a very slow day and that this offer was a great deal. So he decided to make the purchase since we went to his talk and were told it was safe to purchase at these recommended stores When we returned home we wanted to have the ring appraised for insurance reasons. While waiting for our appraisal to arrive my husband decided to call Carnival just incase we had not gotten a fair price and the 30 days was running out. We were told not to worry about the 30 days as we had reregistered our concern with them.When the appraisal arrived the value of the ring was only $1,200. We informed the cruise line and were told that we had to follow certain procedures , which meant sending the ring to an independent appraiser who lived 250 miles away. So we did and it involved another costly appraisal to find out that it was the same value. When we notified Carnival Cruise lines they told us sorry that the 30 days had pasted and besides that on the bottom of the receipt in very small print it said ALL SALES FINAL! They didn't say this when we registered our concern with them and they told us they would stand behind us. Come to find out the port shopper was not an employee of the cruise line (however was wearing a Carnival uniform)we were lead to believe that he was working for Carnival. but was outsourced and working for a different company. We believe he received commission on every item that he helped sell.Also the couple that we were traveling with purchased a diamond ring and the port shopper from the ship was helping them to make their purchase as well. They received a damaged diamond and paid $1,200 for an appraised ring that was valued at $600 because of the damaged stone. Their appraisal arrived a few days after the 30 days and they were told the same thing the 30 days had passed and all sales were final.Just want to let the cruising public know that the 30 days guarantee does not allow enough time for a person to receive an appraisal on there purchase after they get home from their cruise and you may have been taken advantage of. So ask questions when you go to the port shopping talks.We have taken 10 cruises and have never had a problems before. We have purchased several jewelry items in the Caribbean and always gotten a good value. This is the second cruise on Carnival and the first time we purchased anything.No more Carnival cruises for us we will stick to HAL and other cruise lines.

What on earth does this have to do with the topic at hand...geeezz.......

I may be able to shed some light on recommended stores, as we own some in the Caribbean. It has been our expierence that they do put pressure on a store owner to settle any problems with a purchase quickly and fairly. In our jewelry store we probably get a "problem" with a purchase, maybe once every five to six months. Whenever a customer has a complaint, we are notified very quickly and we are generally asked weekly on its resolution. Nine out of ten times we either send a replacement or a refund even if the customer has just changed their mind ("buyer's remorse"). On occasion, we have had some unbelievable requests such as one person who wanted to return a pendant after one year since they thought they had a year to try it out and make up their mind!

My favorite is one customer who sent a ring to have it appaised and the appraisal came back stating that the ring was quartz and worth about 1/10 of the price it was sold for. I called the appraiser who admitted that she had never before seen this type of gem (ammolite), was unfamilar with it, had no knowledge of it or it's value, and had never appaised one before. Make sure your appaiser is familar with what they are appaising.

There is a tremendous amount of competition among jewelry stores and there are still some great buys out there.

Also, isn't safer to buy from a store that the cruise line has power over and is interested in keeping you as a happy cruiser -think about it.

My nephew works as a DJ for Carnival. Got hired two years ago as soon as he was old enough. I believe my SIL told me he started at $1,400 per month. Don't know what he's making now. We did a family cruise on his ship but we didn't get any discounts. He was allowed to have 5 passes for family members to visit the crew's quarters. Found out that the crews have their own parties which can be pretty wild. When he wasn't up on deck DJ'ing he was DJ'ing for the crew.

Originally posted by dan40
Tips should be in accordance with the service you receive. Their home, their color, their income, their family, everything personal about them are not factors. Only the service. Their income is no more our business than our income is their business.

Dan

I totally agree. I am not sure what I said in my previous post that you quoted that made you think (I assume) that I believe otherwise. Hence my statement, "Good for them, I will continue to tip extra for exceptional service." I found this thread to be somewhat interesting because some things I have read state or imply that the ship employees are like indentured servants, who are paid so low that they will not be able to survive if one does not tip. In other words, tip or feel guilty for not tipping. My tipping extra or not is solely based on service. I tipped extra on our Feb cruise because the service was outstanding. Other factors in the ship's employees lives were not a factor, nor should they be. Service would have to be pretty bad before I would consider taking tips off the S&S card, regardless of their income. I have lived or spent considerable time in some of the countries that some of the ship's workers were from on my last cruise. So, I was glad to see on this thread they make out OK, as far as their comparable income is concerned. This thread is of some interest, but not actionable in any way. At the end of the day, I agree with your statement.

Originally posted by Jackrjc
I totally agree. I am not sure what I said in my previous post that you quoted that made you think (I assume) that I believe otherwise. Hence my statement, "Good for them, I will continue to tip extra for exceptional service." I found this thread to be somewhat interesting because some things I have read state or imply that the ship employees are like indentured servants, who are paid so low that they will not be able to survive if one does not tip. In other words, tip or feel guilty for not tipping. My tipping extra or not is solely based on service. I tipped extra on our Feb cruise because the service was outstanding. Other factors in the ship's employees lives were not a factor, nor should they be. Service would have to be pretty bad before I would consider taking tips off the S&S card, regardless of their income. I have lived or spent considerable time in some of the countries that some of the ship's workers were from on my last cruise. So, I was glad to see on this thread they make out OK, as far as their comparable income is concerned. This thread is of some interest, but not actionable in any way. At the end of the day, I agree with your statement.

This thread is about their income. [even tho its none of our business]

And making any connection between their income and the AMOUNT of tip is degrading to them. The only connection between tips and their total income should be that tips are part of it. Same as room and board and medical are part of it. The amount of tip should only be in relation to the service rendered. And I'm glad you agree.
So many think they should be tipped more or less because they are poor or well to do. Both positions are insulting to the servers. [but they can probably tolerate the over tippers]

I have a friend that is a waiter in a very upscale American restaurant. He was making well into six figures way back in the early 80's. Even then he made NO wage at all, he has to pay the restaurant to work there. He makes that money because he is a total pro. And often gets large tips from people well below his tax bracket, because he is a total pro. If many patrons knew how well he does, his income would likely suffer. But its none of their business either.

I still don't see why others think that it's none of our business what certain professions make (in this example cruise ship staff). One is allowed to be curious. Also what if someone was considering going into that field, it would be helpful to know how much one can expect to be making to make an informed decision. It's no secret what most professions pay (if you look into it a little). You could find out my general salary, as I'm sure I could each of yours. I would never ask any one individual about their personal situation - now that's none of my business.

Originally posted by ChueyWe went on a cruise with another couple to the Mexico Rivera. The cruise was fun however we went to a port shopping talk on the ship. We were told that we could shop with confidence at certain shops and guaranteed to get good quality products with a 30 day guarantee. We went to a recommended jewelry store. While just window shopping, we asked to look at a certain ring with no intention of purchasing. Well as it turned out the port shopper was in the store at the time. He came over to my husband and was telling what a wonderful deal we were being offered. The salesman told us that the ring was valued at $4,000. He bargained with my husband and came down to a price of $2,500 and the port shopping fellow was standing there and told my husband that he (the jeweler) was having a very slow day and that this offer was a great deal. So he decided to make the purchase since we went to his talk and were told it was safe to purchase at these recommended stores When we returned home we wanted to have the ring appraised for insurance reasons. While waiting for our appraisal to arrive my husband decided to call Carnival just incase we had not gotten a fair price and the 30 days was running out. We were told not to worry about the 30 days as we had reregistered our concern with them.When the appraisal arrived the value of the ring was only $1,200. We informed the cruise line and were told that we had to follow certain procedures , which meant sending the ring to an independent appraiser who lived 250 miles away. So we did and it involved another costly appraisal to find out that it was the same value. When we notified Carnival Cruise lines they told us sorry that the 30 days had pasted and besides that on the bottom of the receipt in very small print it said ALL SALES FINAL! They didn't say this when we registered our concern with them and they told us they would stand behind us. Come to find out the port shopper was not an employee of the cruise line (however was wearing a Carnival uniform)we were lead to believe that he was working for Carnival. but was outsourced and working for a different company. We believe he received commission on every item that he helped sell.Also the couple that we were traveling with purchased a diamond ring and the port shopper from the ship was helping them to make their purchase as well. They received a damaged diamond and paid $1,200 for an appraised ring that was valued at $600 because of the damaged stone. Their appraisal arrived a few days after the 30 days and they were told the same thing the 30 days had passed and all sales were final.Just want to let the cruising public know that the 30 days guarantee does not allow enough time for a person to receive an appraisal on there purchase after they get home from their cruise and you may have been taken advantage of. So ask questions when you go to the port shopping talks.We have taken 10 cruises and have never had a problems before. We have purchased several jewelry items in the Caribbean and always gotten a good value. This is the second cruise on Carnival and the first time we purchased anything.No more Carnival cruises for us we will stick to HAL and other cruise lines.